The Star in the Night Sky

In a way, the North Star is like God. You can always find the North Star when you are lost because it never moves and it will help you find your way back. We can always find God within our hearts because we love Him so much. With God in our hearts, we will never be lost or alone. Here is a prayer to the North Star.

Oh Star that never moves,
please let me find you.
Oh Star that may not shine the brightest,
please lead me onto the right path with all your kindness.
Oh Star so far away,
do not ever leave me because, the way I see it, we are closer than ever before today.

Amen

A Prayer for Selflessness

O Dearly beloved Word of God, teach me to be generous, to serve Thee as Thou dost deserve, to give without counting the cost, to fight without fretting at my wounds, to labor without seeking rest, to spend myself without looking for any reward other than that of knowing that I do Thy holy will. Amen.

I found this prayer online. It is a prayer for selflessness. I was learning about the 10 Commandments in my religion class, and several of the examples they gave of what the commandments were asking us to do were related to selflessness. I am a very lucky person so I think that this prayer is appropriate for me. I am asking God to help me to help others who have less than I do, and to not mind doing it. I think this prayer is really appropriate for anyone preparing to do service. It is simple and brief, but it says so much, and that is a really great thing.

From: www.catholic.org

A Time for Learning...A Prayer for Acceptance

A friend of mine from school has been very sick this past week. He was discharged from the hospital, but we are waiting for test results. We have been constantly praying for him, but this feeling of concern, and the knowledge that we cannot guarantee he will be fine, have made my friends and I feel helpless at times. However, it has also helped me feel a lot of gratitude that in my own life, I am very healthy. It made me grateful for my health, and the health of those I love. It made me appreciate that I have insurance, and good doctors, and people who love me and want me to feel better when I am ill. It made me recognize how lucky my friend is to have so many people who care about him and want him to be healthy.

It is also important to recognize that we all have out part to play. God gives us all our burdens to bear, and the best we can do is to bear them willingly and happily. Compared to the suffering Jesus endured for us, these little things we have to deal with are trivial. It must be a part of God's plan for my friend to be ill, though I do not understand it now. But I still pray to God that he will feel better, and I pray that God will help me, and him, and his family and friends, to understand why he has been chosen to bear this burden of illness.

So here is my prayer:

Dear Lord,

Please help me to be strong when I am weak
To accept the things that I have no control over
To conquer that greatest challenge - myself.

Help me to support my family and friends
To help them with their burdens
And to bear my own cheerfully.

Help me to see illness not as a time of pain
But as an opportunity to be healed
A chance to rely on You and grow closer to You.

And please bless all those who are ill
All those who care about them
And all those who have no one to care for them.

Amen.

Keep Your True Friends Close

This past Sunday I spent about 6 hours with some of my best friends in the world. I moved away this past year, and I've missed these people so much. And I realized, at some point during the day, that this was truly love. I knew I would be there for these people at any time for absolutely anything, and I knew they'd be there for me as well. I also realized that I would be so utterly lost and lonely without them in my life. I gave thanks to God for being fortunate enough to meeting such wonderful people in my life, and was inspired to write a prayer about it.
Lord,
Thank you for blessing me with such amazing people as best friends. Please bless them in whatever they do. Give them peace when they are worried, comfort when they are scared, and show them Your love when they are upset. Protect them Lord, because they are some of the best people I know, and they deserve it. Lord, please show Your love to those who are not as fortunate as me. Find friends for those without good friends, Lord, because everyone deserves a true friend to love and care about them.
Amen.

In Light of the Looming Hurricane...

...I thought it might be a good idea to write something about it. I have experienced several hurricanes, although I have never been very close to the coast. For the most part, it is a lot of strong winds and rain. But it can be scary. And so we pray...

Lord,

Help me understand that You allow these serious storms. But You must have a reason. I know You would never cause me harm. You know what You are doing. But I don't, Lord. Help me to understand that I may not know what will happen in the future. But I trust You to guide me and protect me. Please protect me from the danger of the storm that is approaching. And please help me to trust in You and Your divine plan.

Amen.

Stress and the Bible, and Ways to Cope

Hello new school year! And hello stress and the constant feeling of sleep deprivation. As the new school year begins, we all begin to feel a little run-down already. With adjusting to getting up at 6 again, to making amnends to our schedules, to getting used to the pressures that the new school year always brings, everyone feels the wear on them soon. I find myself wanting to move on from this year already, when it's only just begun! I figured I'm not the only one feeling the stress of school, so i decided to look up what the Bible says about stress and relaxation: "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. (John 4.1)" Jesus calmly assures us that we need only to believe in God and Him to find peace in our lives. For nothing can compare to the peace the Lord Himself can give to us. "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)" God gives us many examples in the Bible all basically instructing the same thing: go to Him, love Him, believe in Him, and you shall find peace. In addition, to believing in God, coping strategies couldn't hurt. :] One suggestion I found, other than the obvious ones like stay healthy, excercise, and learn to manage your time well, is to try to find lots of humor in your everyday life. Laughing is not only healthy, but good for the soul. Good luck putting some of these strategies into use! And on a final note, remember, the Lord says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)"

There is a reason why God made smiling a lot easier than frowning.....he wants us to be happy. God wants us to laugh and enjoy life. He wants us to smile every day to show that nothing can bring us down. Smiling is the best way to spread happiness because it makes the sun shine on a rainy day, and just one smile can make the pain go away. Yes there are days of sadness and days to mourn, but God will help us every step of the way to bring that smile back as long as we have faith.

Let us pray that there will be more smiles each day,
That happiness will spread throughout the world.
And let us pray that our happiness will never fade away.

Amen.